>2. I've read that in the US there is flat fee WAP access. AT&T's Pocketnet
>service allows you to stay connected all day if you want and you get charged
>a flat rate. The service apparently works well in most major cities. I also
>hear that Nextel offers a packet-switched WAP service. This underscores the
>point that content is a bigger issue in the US than simple network and
>billing issues.
Only AT&T and Nextel have packet-switched networks. AT&T's (called CDPD)
has actually been around for a while, but was only available for wireless
modems in PCs until about 3 months ago when they started their PocketNet
service. The phone's data operation is completely different from its
voice operation, and the phone actually has to "switch modes" to go from
one to the other. AT&T has flat pricing. Omnisky's wireless Palm modem
also uses AT&T's CDPD network.
Nextel uses a proprietary Morotola "standard" called iDen, which no one
else uses. I don't know how they charge.
However, there are the only 2 packet switched networks out here. Nextel
has very small market share, and AT&T is maybe around 20% (don't quote me
on this, i will need to check.) The other big players, Sprint, Verizon,
and SBC/Bell South, all have circuit switched systems and a billing
system which counts minutes, not data.
zimran@creativegood.com
Creative Good
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Received on Tue Sep 26 17:39:45 2000